Supreme court sentences Navjot Sidhu 1 year in jail in a 34-year-old road rage case

May 19: Punjab Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu was on Thursday sentenced to one year in prison after the Supreme Court enhanced his sentence in a 1988 road rage case. The Supreme Court gave its ruling on a petition by the family of a man who died (Gurnam Singh) after a brawl with Mr Sidhu and his friend in 1988. In 1999, a sessions court in Patiala acquitted Mr Sidhu citing lack of evidence and giving him the benefit of the doubt. On a petition challenging this verdict, the Punjab and Haryana High court convicted Mr Sidhu in 2006 of culpable homicide and sentenced him to three years in jail.

In the apex court, allowing a plea filed by the family of Gurnam Singh for a review of the 2018 judgment that let Sidhu off with the fine, a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and S K Kaul said “some material aspects which were required to be taken note of appear to have been somehow missed out at the stage of sentencing, such as” the then 25-year-old deceased “physical fitness”.

Will submit to the majesty of law ….

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) May 19, 2022

The family of the victim, Gurnam Singh, requested the Supreme Court to review its order and consider tougher charges. Mr Sidhu challenged the family’s petition and has ended up with a jail sentence.